Thunderbird Club

[GBassNorth]

Quite a difference!

They are a bit different in measurement, but to be honest I feel almost zero difference in playing them back to back. But then again, I’m not very size sensitive since I bounce all around different basses, different brands, different scales and even 4 and 5 string necks.

When looking at these numbers I’d recommend rounding to two decimal places, with the fretboard radius it’s very difficult to be accurate down to the thousandths of an inch (heck, 10 seconds with a piece of 200 grit sand paper will remove more than that). Not to mentioned the 1990 Greco has white paint and clear coat vs the 1977 Greco with wood stain and clear coat.

Keeping that in mind the difference between the two isn’t too much…
1/100” at fret one
1/100” at fret three
5/100” at fret five

 

[BklynKen]

Thickness at 1 is .835”
Thickness at 3 is .910”
Thickness at 5 is .975”

Just so we’re all talking the same language in neck shapes, looking at the chart below I’d say the Greco has a “C” shape neck…
View attachment 4905098

To make sure I have proper context here, the modern Gibson Thunderbirds (2013, etc.) are D?

 

[Thumper]

So true, in both cases. Funny, I'm not sensitive to spacing. But the rest, big preferences...

Also, the final piece of the puzzle is radius. Personally, I prefer 7.25, but can go to 9.5, after that the fretboard edges feel sharp. Picky, I know, but after 50 years of playing, I gotta do what I can to keep gigging and enjoying practice.

So guess what my next question is?

 

[GBassNorth]

So true, in both cases. Funny, I'm not sensitive to spacing. But the rest, big preferences...

Also, the final piece of the puzzle is radius. Personally, I prefer 7.25, but can go to 9.5, after that the fretboard edges feel sharp. Picky, I know, but after 50 years of playing, I gotta do what I can to keep gigging and enjoying practice.

So guess what my next question is?

LOL - your on your own on the fretboard radius question, I don’t have any radius gauges and don’t recall seeing any radius info about Greco birds. I’d assume it’s very close to the vintage Gibson Tbird though.

I have taken some of my basses to luthier and finishing companies and had the fretboard edge rounded. Makes a huge difference in feel. To the point, that any time I have fretwork professionally done I have them round the fret board edge and fret ends as well.

 

[GBassNorth]

To make sure I have proper context here, the modern Gibson Thunderbirds (2013, etc.) are D?

Your assumption may be correct except for the 2022 NR. I’m not neck sensitive at all, but the first thing I noticed when picking up the new NR was the drastically different neck shape. While my 2015 Gibson Tbird appears to be C shaped (the profile curve starts at the fret board edge vs a D shape where the profile curve starts a short distance away from the fretboard edge), the new NR might actually be a U or C Chunky shape. It’s very different in profile from all my other birds, much more robust in design (but still no volute).

 

[Thumper]

LOL - your on your own on the fretboard radius question, I don’t have any radius gauges and don’t recall seeing any radius info about Greco birds. I’d assume it’s very close to the vintage Gibson Tbird though.

I have taken some of my basses to luthier and finishing companies and had the fretboard edge rounded. Makes a huge difference in feel. To the point, that any time I have fretwork professionally done I have them round the fret board edge and fret ends as well.

Stew-Mac could fix you right up there But I think you may have a few years before your body starts dictating between preferences and needs

 

[Stealth57]

LOL - your on your own on the fretboard radius question, I don’t have any radius gauges and don’t recall seeing any radius info about Greco birds. I’d assume it’s very close to the vintage Gibson Tbird though.

I have taken some of my basses to luthier and finishing companies and had the fretboard edge rounded. Makes a huge difference in feel. To the point, that any time I have fretwork professionally done I have them round the fret board edge and fret ends as well.

Just had that done to my CP.

 

[Gaolee]

Part of me says I should drive out there and pick it up, take it directly to Pat Wikens for a refin in Pelham Blue…

Do it!

 

[Gaolee]

Well, they morphed over the years starting from psychedelic pop (Piper at the Gates of Dawn) See Emily Play and Interstellar Overdrive for examples. To me, prog usually meant it had odd time signatures and sophisticated arrangements with virtuosic performances. (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Yes, Zappa, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, to name a few) Rock, space jam, theater, theme oriented... Pink Floyd was in a field of their own in most ways.

The car in the background of the See Emily Play video looks identical to a 1966 Mercedes Benz my wife and I had for a number of years. We had another one that was identical, except in better condition and beige instead of a dark color. Ours was green. She learned to drive in that old green car.

 

[bobyoung53]

Here's a track from a just released album of ours. I used my red Telebird on it, both pickups on.


And here's another. I used the two pickup Telebass on it. I'm particularly proud of the two little bass fills or lines in the end which just happened. I propably just thought "what Chris Squire would have played here?"

Nice stuff and I like the inversions you're using at the end of the second one if that's what you were talking about. Good bass sound.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Well, they morphed over the years starting from psychedelic pop (Piper at the Gates of Dawn) See Emily Play and Interstellar Overdrive for examples. To me, prog usually meant it had odd time signatures and sophisticated arrangements with virtuosic performances. (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Yes, Zappa, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, to name a few) Rock, space jam, theater, theme oriented... Pink Floyd was in a field of their own in most ways.

See Emily Play fit right in with the Beatles and lots of other pop music of the time. Interstellar Overdrive was something completely different, much more in the psychedelic realm. And this version is its own thing yet again. Acid music, for sure.The music and acid combination of PF and others over the course of a couple of years definitely rewired my brain to be far more open than it had been.

 

[bobyoung53]

Harp King
six 10” speakers
100 watts and its purple! Runs on two KT90s. Rod Piazza helped design them back in the late 90s. They only made less than 100. They stopped making them around 2006. They are the Dumble amps of harp amps. Highly sought after and pricey. This particular one is serial #4 and used to belong to Bruce Willis. Tone to the bone!
View attachment 4905047

I used to play with a harp player who had one of those, I never saw it as we played in small places but I used to ask him if he had brought his 'harp Marshall' all the time . He had another big amp too I used to kid him about, it may have even been a Marshall.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

Here's a track from a just released album of ours. I used my red Telebird on it, both pickups on.


And here's another. I used the two pickup Telebass on it. I'm particularly proud of the two little bass fills or lines in the end which just happened. I propably just thought "what Chris Squire would have played here?"

Nicely done!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

You’ll have to drill a pretty big hole for the flush mount lock, so I’d avoid that one.

But you might want to consider your strap lock locations first.

If your Tbird is like most here you’ll find a strap pin best balances the Tbird bass if it’s in the area of the neck plate, not on the upper horn like most non Tbird basses. If that’s the case, I’d avoid the Dunlop design altogether. It uses a push button release. And if your strap pin is on the neck plate that means the push button will be up against your body where it could accidentally be activated.

Schaller uses a pull pin release and would be a better fit for a typical plate mounted strap pin. But you will either have to drill into the plate to install it, or modify one of your neck screws.

If you want to completely avoid drilling and save money while safely securing your bass on the strap you can’t beat the Grolsch rubber washer system.

I used Dunlops on my guitars. I loved them. But the screws were too small to transfer directly to the basses. My CP came with Schallers installed, and I really like those. I need to get those onto the rest of my basses. Although I'm tempted to try the washer trick... Do those come in black?

 

[Miles_ONeal]

The Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbirds were offered in alpine white, and now none of the retailers offer them in white. Was that color discontinued? Did Epiphone run out of white paint? Did the white Epi's compete too much with the Johnny Winters 'birds? Seems like white is the most popular color. Is there a story behind why it's no longer available?

Gibson never explains things, they just do random stuff. I wanted a white VP but someone here made me a deal to good to pass up on a burst.

If someone nearby offered to trade a similar condition (excellent) white VP for my burst VP, I'd do it in a heartbeat. While the burst is gorgeous, the white just calls to me. (I'd consider a Greco trade the same way.) Red would be great, too, but they never made a red VP, AFAIK.

 

[BklynKen]

Your assumption may be correct except for the 2022 NR. I’m not neck sensitive at all, but the first thing I noticed when picking up the new NR was the drastically different neck shape. While my 2015 Gibson Tbird appears to be C shaped (the profile curve starts at the fret board edge vs a D shape where the profile curve starts a short distance away from the fretboard edge), the new NR might actually be a U or C Chunky shape. It’s very different in profile from all my other birds, much more robust in design (but still no volute).

My guess, having both a 2013 Reverse and NR, is that the Reverse is D and NR is C. But maybe I'm oversimplifying.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

You just made my Friday with that photo.

Pretty much everyone's, I bet!

 

[BklynKen]

See Emily Play fit right in with the Beatles and lots of other pop music of the time. Interstellar Overdrive was something completely different, much more in the psychedelic realm. And this version is its own thing yet again. Acid music, for sure.The music and acid combination of PF and others over the course of a couple of years definitely rewired my brain to be far more open than it had been.

I think I've posted this before, but here's something I never thought I'd see. Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa playing together.

 

[JJR58]

I think I've posted this before, but here's something I never thought I'd see. Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa playing together.

Good catch Ken!
I've seen this vid, and first time ever seeing Frank playing a Tele.

 

[Engle]

I used Dunlops on my guitars. I loved them. But the screws were too small to transfer directly to the basses. My CP came with Schallers installed, and I really like those. I need to get those onto the rest of my basses. Although I'm tempted to try the washer trick... Do those come in black?

The ones you get on beer bottles are usually red, but you can get them in blackhttps://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Guita...71223213&sprefix=Strap+washers,aps,150&sr=8-3